According to The Miami Herald, the city of Hollywood, Florida, is a little more than paranoid about the February release of Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure.
The game, created by Atari for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PCs, follows Trane, the game’s hero, on a mission to fight the authorities of fictitious New Radius, a city where freedom of speech doesn’t exist and oppression is the norm. Players will control Trane as he speaks out with his can of spray paint, scales walls and dodges cops while gaining supporters. The game’s combination of action, drama and an involved storyline have already drawn the attention of the other Hollywood – California, that is. The game is being made into a movie by MTV.
Rated M by the U.S. games rating board, the game technically would be sold only to those age 17 and older. Despite the rating, the city of Hollywood is considering a resolution protesting the release of the game, saying it will incite players to bring fiction to life.
The Ohio-based American Association of Code Enforcement would like Atari to set aside money for anti-graffiti education and warning signs displaying the potentially harmful effect of graffiti on communities.
Clay Milan, Hollywood's code enforcement director, took it a step further and has proposed that the City Commission pass a resolution denouncing the game and opposing its release.
Hollywood code enforcement officers have issued about 50 graffiti citations this year, Milan said.
"This game promotes graffiti, and some people might play it and think it's fun on the game. The next step would be to try it for real," Milan said. "The city should discourage people from purchasing the game."
The national code enforcement group plans to draft a letter to Atari asking the company to provide warning labels or messages telling players that graffiti is illegal and not acceptable, association president Blaine Smith said.”
Miami Herald on Macon.com
When will people get a clue?
Games, movies, television shows and music do not create society’s woes – people do. Those who choose to break the law do not know right from wrong or they just don’t care. These same people will not respond to warning labels and while they might try to blame a game for their actions, it is they who are responsible. And therein lies the problem; it’s easier to blame a game, a television show or a song than the person who committed the crime in the first place.
In an age where Americans have turned their criminals into “victims,” allowing their actions to be blamed on bad parenting, bad movies or anything but the lawbreaker him or herself, actions such as those proposed in Hollywood should come as no surprise to anyone.
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